And recall that when President Obama mocked Scott Brown for driving a pickup truck, Brown quickly responded that unfortunately, in this economy, not everyone can buy a pickup. "My goal is to change that," he said on the eve of the election, "by cutting spending, lowering taxes and letting people keep more of their own money." Right on message.
And during that campaign, Brown argued that health care reform is a tax hike and that cap-and-trade is a tax hike. This should become the Republican message, too. It's about taxes, as well as spending.
A recent Washington Post poll showed that by 58 percent to 38 percent, voters want smaller government and fewer government services. This, too, should be the Republican congressional message.
It is, in fact, an economic-growth message, the likes of which we haven't heard since Jack Kemp promoted it in the late 1970s. And the brilliance of Scott Brown was to use the JFK tax cuts -- an across-the-board reduction in marginal tax rates -- to attract Democrats and independents to his message.
An across-the-board tax cut is the fairest pro-growth message of them all. Lower tax rates for everybody. Get out of the box of rich people and class warfare. For the Ted Kennedy Democrats, that box has been a loser for decades. But for timid Republicans always on the defensive, now is the time to break out and adopt the Scott Brown theme.
This is what Reagan did. This is why the Gipper touted JFK's across-the-board tax cuts. Republicans must now be bold and fight for across-the-board tax relief, for families, individuals and businesses, along with smaller government, fewer services and across-the-board spending cuts.
While Team Obama is fighting for more government employment, with trillions of dollars of spending, it is time for Republicans to fight for private free-enterprise employment by letting folks keep more of what they earn and by providing new incentives for the extra hour worked and the extra investment dollar put at risk.
This is where the GOP must go. Republicans should not let another day pass without unleashing a fusillade of new tax-cutting proposals to get America moving again.